Bee Venom for Beauty
by Debra Cornwell “You don’t need a million dollars to feel like a million dollars,†says skin expert Andrei Smith. Everyone, men and women alike, has experienced a moment when you put on your favorite clothes, your hair and skin look great, and you feel like you could conquer the world. Smith and Sean Murphy want to help you get and keep that feeling. The duo operate a new company based in Berryville, Va., and they are making your personal skin care routine their business. Juliána USA recently celebrated its product launch at a red carpet event at Celadon Spa & Salon in Washington, D.C. The firm offers two products in its YOUTH2Skin line: Bee Venom Mask and Day & Night Serum. Sure to take the sting out of the cost and discomfort of injections, fillers and other procedures, bee venom is not a substitute for those remedies but, perhaps, it is a welcome delay in seeking out those treatments. Upon Kate Middleton’s engagement to Prince William, her every move, including her skin care routine, came under scrutiny. Bee venom masks, creams and facials have long been popular with celebrities, but the revelation that Kate used the products introduced bee venom to the public. Bee venom facials are priced at $200 and up with pure bee venom costing thousands of dollars per ounce in some markets. YOUTH2Skin brings bee venom to the market at affordable prices according to Smith. Juliána USA founder and CEO Sean Murphy launched the company with the goal of leading the skin care industry in innovative and effective products. Murphy is joined by Smith, senior sales director at Juliána USA. Smith’s previous experience includes sales and promotions of skin care products at high-end spas in Washington, D.C. “Since you only live once, I’ve always wanted each day to count and to look my best. I’ve always had a passion for skin care,†declares Smith. “Andrei told me that I needed to treat the wrinkles on my forehead,†Murphy laughs with not a hint of time carved on his boyish good looks. “Your skin is the most evident sign of your youthfulness and beauty so it behooves one to take good care of it.†So what’s the secret about bee venom and YOUTH2Skin? Murphy explains that, “Melittin, the active compound in bee venom, tricks the skin to stimulate the production of collagen and elastin. This, along with relaxing facial muscles, has a smoothing and tightening effects on the skin and helps erase hard to remove wrinkles. That’s why bee venom is considered an alternative to Botox.†According to Murphy, bee venom has been used to treat...
Events and Uniques
It’s a spooky time of year and Frederick, Md., calls itself the state’s most haunted city. Now you can arrange for a Candlelight Cemetery Tour of Frederick. Navigate through a labyrinth of graves, crypts and monuments of historic Mt. Olivet Cemetery. Tours are Friday and Saturday nights in October and November. Private tours are available on nonscheduled nights. Visit www.marylandghosttours.com or call 301-668-8922. A scary adventure awaits at Ridgefield Farm and Orchard in Harpers Ferry, W.Va. During weekends in October, Pumpkin Fest and the Haunting Season are in full swing. You can take a hayride to a pumpkin patch and pick your own pumpkin. There’s music, a petting zoo and magic shows. After dark, the hayride will lead you to the corn maze. Find your way out in the dark! Daytime activities are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Ridgefield Farm and Orchard can be found at 414 Kidwiler Road. Visit www.ridgefieldfarm.com. More creepy things can be found at Screamland Farms or Crumland Farms in Frederick, Md., on Fridays and Saturdays until Nov. 2, 7 to 10 p.m. You can take a horrific hayride through haunted woods, have a “corrupted corn†tour and even tour the haunted barn—if you dare! This tour is not recommended for children under 13. Crumland Farms is at 7612 Willow Road. For more information, call 301-845-8099. The early years of music icon Patsy Cline are the focus of the exhibit, “Becoming Patsy Cline†at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, 901 Amherst St. in Winchester, Va., on display until Feb. 2, 2014. Virginia “Ginny” Patterson Hensley is one of the Shenandoah Valley’s most globally recognized personalities. Organized by the museum in partnership with Celebrating Patsy Cline, Inc. (CPC), this is the first museum exhibition to focus almost exclusively on the singer’s early years through the use of objects, clothing, and rare photographs, describing the singer’s family history, examining her early influences, and detailing the development of her singing career. Hours are Tuesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Visit www.shenandoahmuseum.org. You can literally take a walk with President Lincoln on a tour that follows his historic footsteps on his way to dedicate the Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pa. The tour is held on Saturdays, through November 30, starting at 1 p.m., departing from the Gettysburg Hotel at One Lincoln Square. For details, call 717-339-6161. Enjoy a traditional English tea at the Marshall House, 217 Edwards Ferry Rd., Leesburg, Va., Oct. 3 from 2 to 4 p.m. The Marshall is the home of George C. Marshall, President Roosevelt’s Army Chief of Staff. Marshall was responsible for the Marshall Plan, the American program to...
Through the Front Door – Vintage Halloween Style
By Lisa Bartell of Wisteria Cove Photos by Bethany Lowe Designs and Lisa Bartell The wind whispers on a crisp October evening. Costumed children scurry up sidewalks crunching leaves under anxious footsteps, chattering and giggling with excitement about the sweet treat they will receive from the next house in neighborhood. Halloween is here! Oh what fun! My house is fully decorated inside and out, mounds of treats ready to be handed out. Baked potato soup is bubbling on the stove — a family tradition that warms the bones. We wholeheartedly enjoy Halloween at our house and go all out with the decorations. Our Halloween decor is vintage, not the blood and gore you see at some of the stores. It’s much more exciting to use your imagination to give yourself a fright. It’s the unknown that really gives you goosebumps. Who’s lurking behind the closet door? Is there a monster under the bed? Did you hear footsteps? Is something hiding behind the curtain? It’s all in good fun, with a few bats, cobwebs and skeletons thrown into the mix. Here are a few history facts about Halloween decorations and when they came about in America, along with some great photos of new, vintage style Halloween decorations from Bethany Lowe Designs. I’m also including my baked potato soup recipe for your family to enjoy! The Americanized Halloween In the 1880s to 1890s, the Victorians put a romantic twist on Halloween, secretly competing to see who could have the more elaborate Halloween party. They tried to outdo each other with more food and more decorations. They also played lots of Romantic parlor games. From getting your fortune told by spinning a wheel or picking a piece of paper out of a box that might say, “You are going to meet your beau this very night.” Another game was played by blindfolding a female and spinning her around, then pointing her in the direction of a group of single suitors. Whoever she touched first would get a kiss. Lastly, spooky stories were told. Victorians of this time would decorate with mostly what nature’s bounty offered up. This is continued this very day with cornstalks, pumpkins and gourds. Other decorations they used (mostly paper goods) were imported from Germany and sold here in America. American Halloween decorations in the early 1900s By the early 1900s Halloween in American was becoming more child oriented. Manufacturers in America started producing their own Halloween decorations that were mostly made of paper with Halloween images on them such as black cats, jack o’ lanterns and witches. The Dennison Company was one of the leading manufacturers of Halloween...
The Circular
Hotel Hershey offers a unique Culinary Experience By Maggie Wolff Peterson Not since he built it in 1933 has Milton Hershey’s elegant fine-dining space received such attention. A redesign of The Circular, the main dining room at the Hotel Hershey that was completed in April, offers American-made furnishings, a new vision of American cookery, Prohibition era-inspired cocktails and an open pastry kitchen. Hershey, the chocolate tycoon, was more than a candy maker. A man of utopian vision, he intended his chocolate town to be a worker’s paradise. To that end, he installed the green space that is today Hersheypark, established a school for indigent boys that today offers scholarship education to both boys and girls, and designed the Hotel Hershey, a grand establishment that features much of the decorative stained glass that Hershey acquired throughout his life. Its Circular Dining Room was a showcase for transom and panel windows figured in flowers, fruit and birds. Hershey designed the room in honor of solo diners, whom he felt were often diminished by being stuck in a corner. In the center, a dance floor focused attention. Beyond the room’s wall of windows were manicured formal gardens with deep reservoirs that appeared merely decorative but were in fact the hotel’s water source. Hershey’s innovations enhanced a room that epitomized dining in a grand hotel. Jackets were required for men, and ladies’ attire did not include trousers. Things are different in The Circular now. John Daly, director of food and beverage for hotel, describes the current style as “casual elegance.†Wood tones have been lightened and obstructions in the room removed to make an open space that seats 245 diners at tables of cherry wood, bordered in mahogany. The tables were made in Wisconsin, the chairs, in New Jersey. Low dividers that break the room into more intimate spaces feature hidden induction heaters that allow their use for buffet service. A filter system provides crystalline tap water, served in reusable, ceramic-capped bottles. A private dining space, separated from the main room by glassed wine racks, offers seating for 10. Another space, called the Alcove, can seat 12. Executive Chef Ken Gladysz said it took two years of research and consideration before changes were made to the room. “The restaurant has a tremendous amount of history, as the old formal dining room of a luxury hotel,†he says. “If we’re going to change the ambience, do we change the style of food?†In keeping with current trends, the kitchen makes use of local, fresh fare and updates dishes to reflect what’s in season. The menu is less extensive than it was, concentrating on grilled...
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